Pausing to Worship
One of the things that I love about teaching at Dordt is that we deliberately pause, right in the middle of our week, to spend time together in worship.Chapel is not mandatory. No one compels students...
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A Few Thoughts on Intentionality
It's been over a month since my last post. I'd like to say that it was an intentional break, but that's not really true--at least not entirely.I usually try to write at least one post a week, which...
View ArticleBeginning Again, with Trembling
I've shared before on this blog how much I love the rhythms of the academic year, with beginnings, middles, and ends. We are at the middle of the 2018-19 academic year right now...which means a new...
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Paper Bridges and Teaching STEM
I'm teaching a new course this semester: Methods of Teaching STEM in K-12 Schools. This is not just a new course for me, but a new course for our program entirely, which brings some joys and...
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Flickering Flickr
In my field of Educational Technology, we sometimes talk about what actually makes a particular tech tool an "educational technology." Some tools are deliberately designed for teaching and learning;...
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Most Effective Educational Technologies
A friend of mine is studying to become a teacher. (But she's not one of my students.) :-)She reached out to me recently, asking a question for an assignment she's working on for class. She was to reach...
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Learning Together: Small Teaching
This semester, I'm part of a faculty reading group studying the book Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning by James Lang.Two of my colleagues--not in Education, mind you, but...
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Licensure, Testing Pressures, and Appropriate Teacher Pay
Oh. My. Word.I just read this article from Education Week: You're More Likely to Pass the Bar Than an Elementary Teacher Licensing Exam.There is a LOT in this article worth thinking about...but this...
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Reading for Pleasure and Reading with Purpose
True confession: after finishing my doctorate in 2017, I had a hard time reading anything. (Not unrelated: I also had a hard time writing anything. But that's not really the point of this...
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Classroom Atmosphere: Music Matters
Any of you educators out there play music before class? This has become a norm for me since teaching in higher ed; I always put something on at the beginning of class. In my former life as a middle...
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Okay Facebook, It's Getting Creepy
Some of you may be familiar with Clifton StrengthsFinder? I like this tool--and the whole psychology behind it--quite a lot. (I've written about it here on the blog in the past too...check out this,...
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Making Connections: Thinking and Learning
This morning, when I was about to get into the shower, I was taking off my watch and I noticed that I'm starting to get get my typical biking-glove-tan-lines. That gave me a bit of joy, actually,...
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Teaching Controversy
It's that time of the semester in science methods...the time when we are wading back into talking about how to approach teaching (potentially) controversial topics for Christians who teach science....
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Flourishing and Encouragement
At the risk of sounding like I'm patting myself on the back, I'll share this story:A student emailed me this meme, with a word of gratitude and encouragement for the way I've led class this...
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Learning Styles (Again?)
I often get requests through the professional organizations of which I am a member to participate in research studies being conducted by colleagues and graduate students. I'm happy to do this, if the...
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Thank You!: An End of the Year Boost
I'm a techie, for sure. I love all things digital. But you know what? You just can't beat a hand-written note. There is something about it that says, "I care so much, I'm going to take the time to get...
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Wisdom? Or Common Sense?
A friend of mine recently posted a photo of me on Facebook. It's actually a photo of a page in the most recent issue of our University magazine for alumni, and supporters, and friends of the...
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Moving and Change
We moved to a new home last week. It was an adventure, and still is, I guess, since all our stuff is in the new house but we are still figuring out where it is, and where it should be. When one of the...
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Overcoming Writer's Block
I have written so very little this summer, and that pains me in some ways.Writing is so often cathartic, and a key part of my reflective practice as an educator.I enjoy writing, most of the time.But...
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Beginning Again
Man, you guys...I just love to teach!I mean, it's terrifying, you know? Stepping into the classroom at the beginning of the year, ready to meet new students, and sort of hoping that everything doesn't...
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